The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of aircraft sensor systems, and more particularly to aircraft sensor systems for acquiring and validating air data during a flight.
Aircrafts typically include air data sensors that acquire various data regarding the operation of an aircraft and a surrounding environment. However, air data sensors may operate in conditions that lead to incorrect data readings without any alerts being provided to the crew or the control systems of the aircraft. For example, cold weather or flying at high altitudes may cause ice to build up on, around, or within air data sensors, which may cause the air data sensors to provide onboard flight systems with erroneous or confusing data that may mislead pilots or affect the operation of automated systems of the plane. Ice build up on sensors has caused a number of recent aviation disasters, such as the crash of Air France AF-447. During the flight of Air France AF-447, ice crystals blocked the plane's pitot tubes, which are used by aircraft to determine air speed. As a result of the ice buildup, the aircraft's autopilot system disconnected and flight instruments displayed an erroneous airspeed, which ultimately led to the aircraft crashing.
A need exists for systems and methods for detecting aircraft sensor failures due to external conditions (e.g., hardware is functioning but covered in ice) and to warn aircraft crew of such failures. A further need exists for estimating air data in response to such aircraft sensor failures such that accurate air data is still be provided to aircraft crew.